The House Of Love
The House Of Love

THE REVIEW

The psychedelic pop-rock of "How Soon Is Now" sublimated into an impressive list of gems. The two incredible debut albums of this band, active in the second half of the '80s and now completely forgotten, have the same name (a self-titled, in fact) and constitute, besides a practically uninterrupted flow for their artistic path, a manifesto that unites three of the most important realities of their era: the humble jingle and mood of their masters, the Smiths; the ingenious psychedelia of Jesus and Mary Chain; the glossy (in a good way) and dreamy sound of 4AD, not the DCD one, but rather that of Cocteau Twins.

However, it is the Smiths that stand out at the first listen, as the guitars of Guy Chadwick (also vocals) and Terry Bickers blatantly follow the grooves of Johnny Marr. The voice doesn't have the power of a Morrissey certainly, but it remains very pleasant in its fatalistic chanting. If anything, the differences with the Mancunian group lie in the fact that the House of Love more fully embraced their psychedelic streak, and it is this that makes them akin to J&MC or Echo and the Bunnymen (also sadly forgotten).

The House of Love owe their commercial success (UK top ten) to the single "Shine On", one of the true anthems of the decade, alongside "Love like blood" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday". If here in Italy it didn't take hold much, in England even today it is a must for any collection concerning that period. Indeed, it is an extraordinary piece. The initial guitar chimes are desperate and epic like those of the old-style Edge, the rhythm is brisk, and the lyrics, sung in an incredibly emotional manner, are touching to the limits of paroxysm.

If "Shine On" represented their commercial zenith, on the other hand, it condemned other equally beautiful gems to a more superficial glance from the general public, and destined the group to a quick decline since sales soon became a problem and the internal crisis within the group (exacerbated by heavy drug abuse by the members) caused the project to implode after 4 years, amidst general indifference.

It was a real shame because, as I repeat, the material was of excellent quality. "Christine", one of their psychedelic peaks, seems to be the polished copy of what The Killers play today, a sweet initial lullaby disturbed by a metronomic beat in the 4AD style that creeps in after less than a minute, with a soft voice counterpointed by choruses. The main instrument of the House of Love is evidently the guitar, and although songs like "Hope" and "Man to a Child" momentarily set aside various flangers to also showcase a refined acoustic soul, tracks like "Salomé" are furious gallops a la "Radio Free Europe" with exceptional jingle-jangle. A vague taste of "dreamy" frontier characterizes, in my opinion, "Happy", one of the peaks, while "Real Animal" is simply another stunning piece, with its railroad rhythm and the hiccuping guitar work leading to a solo almost Sonic Youth (Kissability).

An absolute must-recover group for connoisseurs of the refined art of the Smiths as well as for those who appreciate the brilliant boisterousness of a certain English psychedelic pop of the '80s, the House of Love were meticulous crafters of crystalline melodies, occasionally tarnished by elements from the rising shoegaze movement. The explosion of the second hippie generation in Madchester would have buried them along with all their celestial arpeggios, but, curiously, they were also, in a way, influential in that genre (trip-hop, with all its variants) which is highly psychedelic, reviving 60s insights and expanding on what Marr and Morrissey created with "How Soon is Now".